Make These Easy Summer Rolls When You Don't Feel Like Cooking Dinner

My daughters love to help me cook. They also like to do things such as touch the handles of smoking-hot cast-iron skillets while my wife, Christina, and I aren’t watching. There was that time Julep, my seven-year-old, attempted to flip a waffle with her hands and the night that Signe, my four-year-old, thought she could test the doneness of pasta by sticking her finger into boiling water. The concept of cause-and-effect is clearly something they’ve yet to grasp.

Which brings me to no-cook summer rolls, or, as they’re known in Vietnam, goi cuon. The girls love customizing their own—stuffing all kinds of fresh, crunchy vegetables inside a see-through rice wrapper and rolling it up. I love them ’cause we can still “cook” together, without worrying about a trip to the ER.

To make them, first soak a fistful of thin rice noodles in boiling water for a few minutes until softened, then rinse under cold water until chilled. Fill a baking dish with warm water and soak round rice-paper wrappers until just pliable but not limp, about 20 seconds. Lay one flat on a cutting board and fill with some rice noodles and whatever vegetables, herbs, and leftover meats you have in the fridge (see below for ideas).

Then comes the fun part: Tuck in the ends and wrap them into tight cylinders like burritos. Last, we whisk together a simple ponzu sauce. Now, if I could only get the girls to clean up.

These summer rolls are infinitely customizable. Set out a bunch of fillings, and let the kids choose their combinations.